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Seven players managed to survive Day 5 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris Main Event, but only one of them has virtually one hand around the Golden Shard trophy already.
Jorge Abreu dominated the day, building up a massive stack of 22,425,000 that makes him the overwhelming chip leader going to tomorrow’s final table. The Portuguese online grinder scored the only two knockouts of the final table so far, first turning a straight to crack Joris Ruijs’ set, then waking up with kings to take out Sami Bechahed in eighth. Abreu is more than 16,000,000 ahead of his closest challenger as he chases the title and €1,148,600 top prize.
Final Table chip counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jorge Abreu | Portugal | 22,425,000 | 150 |
| 2 | Casimir Seire | Finland | 6,400,000 | 43 |
| 3 | Nazar Buhaiov | Ukraine | 5,025,000 | 34 |
| 4 | Tomas Jozonis | Lithuania | 3,200,000 | 21 |
| 5 | Thierry Gogniat | France | 2,950,000 | 20 |
| 6 | Enrico Coppola | Italy | 2,250,000 | 15 |
| 7 | Felix Schneiders | Germany | 1,950,000 | 13 |
The 35-year-old has four previous EPT Main Event cashes, all from Barcelona, but most of his success has gone online, where he’s been a professional since he was 18. Playing under the name “Jorginho88,” Abreu won two SCOOP Warm-Up titles right before coming to Paris and is part of the Polarize Poker team that usually heads to the Austrian mountains to grind SCOOP and WCOOP.
Casimir Seire ended up with 6,400,000, far behind Abreu but still good enough for second place for the Finnish high roller. Seire is no stranger to some of the biggest tournaments online, and he’s also managed to rack up five EPT Main Event cashes in a short time, including a 19th-place finish at EPT Cyprus in 2023.
Start-of-day chip leader Nazar Buhaiov finished with 5,025,000 and in third place, while Tomas Jozonis (3,200,000) and Enrico Coppola (2,250,000) also managed to secure a spot at their second EPT final tables. Jozonis finished third at EPT Monte Carlo in 2018, while Coppola is making his second appearance in less than a year after he made a run to fourth place in Monte Carlo last May.
But the unlikeliest participant at the final table is Thierry Gogniat. The local restaurateur was down to just four big blinds when there were 12 players remaining, his dream of joining his wife Isabel Baltazar as an EPT finalist seemingly vanquished. But he managed to nearly quadruple up and kept making the pay jumps until he bagged up 2,950,000, good for fifth place going to the final table.
"It's All We've Been Working For the Past Three Years"; Schneiders Living His Dream
Each of those six players had their respective supporters on the rail today, but the one who had an entire community behind him was Felix Schneiders. The popular streamer and GRND on Tour pro had his best showing in an EPT event when he finished 48th at EPT Malta last year, but, after years of trying, he’s finally achieved his dream of making it to the final table, even if he’s the short stack with just 1,950,000.
“It means the world. It’s the biggest score of my career already. It’s all we’ve been working for the past three years. EPT is the dream that we’ve started to long for,” he said at the end of play today.
“Had my first cash in Monte Carlo, then my first deeper run in Cyprus, then my deepest run in Malta, and now this one. It’s just insane. I’ve started to build my own little masterclass, so to say, around my way towards EPT glory. And this is just the confirmation that this is the right path. I’ve got the crew with me and they’re all supporting me. My coach is here, my family, my friends, my girlfriend, they’re all supporting me. They’re so going crazy back home. It’s a crazy ride.”
Schneiders is usually on the other side at EPT final tables, serving as a commentator during the live stream. To actually make it this far himself is something he could only imagine in his wildest dreams.
“I can’t believe that I actually made the final day of an EPT, which I previously only did commentary on, and I was dreaming of one day sitting there at the final table. And now the day has come, and it’s come sooner than I ever thought,” he said.
Schneiders’ journey was chronicled the entire way by his GRND on Tour crew, who were there to capture every hand, every decision, and every critical moment over the last five days. Schneiders’ has built up an online following that includes more than 32,000 subscribers on YouTube, and another 75,000 on Twitch. The fact that the game allows him to connect with so many people and create a community is what makes poker special for him.
“This is what it’s all about. I’ve built my whole business and career and projects that I’ve done, basically just by sharing my passion and sharing what I love doing, and just getting others to join and connecting with others. All the people that are here became friends through the community. All the people that are watching are part of the community, and it’s just a great ride,” he said.
“It just shows how great this game is, how it connects, and how this is all about the people. The game is nice, but it’s more about the connections we form and the support we give each other.”
Schneiders will have his work cut out for him tomorrow when he returns with just 13 big blinds, and he recognizes that the end result is out of his hands. He’s put in all the work, done all the math, and studied all the spots. It’s up to the cards now if he wants to mount a miraculous comeback.
“I have no plan. Just make good decisions, and everything is up to the cards. I’ve done everything I could. I’ve done strategy, we’ve done lots of talks with my coach, and some random math and stuff, and went through spots. So all I can do right now is just focus on the decisions, and let the cards roll.”
Day 5 Action
Day 5 began with 16 players returning to Le Palais des Congres out of a starting field of 1,474. Pawel Wojciechowski earned an early double up when he rivered two pair against Coppola, but his good fortune proved short-lived. After laying down trip aces to Jozonis’ full house, Wojciechowski then moved all in for 2,145,000 with ace-queen, but Jozonis woke up with kings to bust Wojciechowski in 16th place.
Chady Ojeil (15th) and Raphael Bilger (14th) were next to fall. Coppola, meanwhile, earned his own fortunate double up when he spiked a flush on the river against Buhaiov.
Jessica Teusl, the last woman remaining in the field, was left short after shoving from the small blind but running into Seire’s pocket jacks. Her run ended when she got in her last 810,000 with two tens, but Abreu called with two jacks to send Teusl out in 13th place.
When the final 12 players went off on break, three had less than 10 big blinds with the final table fast approaching. Gogniat was left with just four after running ace-king into Bechahed’s aces, but it was Mihai Tabac who was the first to bust after calling for 600,000 on the flop with a pair of sixes. Buhaiov showed top pair of aces, and Tabac couldn’t improve as he was sent to the rail in 12th.
Julien Mariani was then all in for 900,000 with ace-seven against Schneiders’ tens, and as their respective rails shouted out for cards, it was the German supporters who erupted in celebration as Schneiders held on to bust Mariani in 11th. At the same time at the feature table, Mitch Garshofsky had lost much of his stack when Jozonis rivered a straight against his flopped set. Garshofsky then got in his last 870,000 on the button, but Bechahed picked up queens in the small blind, and Garshofsky followed Mariani to the payout desk in 10th place.
The final table of nine was set, and Abreu sat atop the leaderboard with 9,270,000. He wasted little time further separating from the rest of the field. Bechahed had opened to 230,000 in the cutoff and Abreu called on the button. Ruijs also called in the small blind, and they went three-handed to the flop. Abreu bet 250,000 with straight and flush draws, and Ruijs called with a flopped set. Bechahed then raised to 725,000 and Abreu called, but Ruijs shoved for 2,520,000. Bechahed let go of two jacks, and Abreu called with his draws to create a nearly 7,000,000 chip pot. He spiked a straight on the turn, and Ruijs was left needing the board to pair on the river. He got no help, and the Dutch pro was the first casualty of the final table.
Gogniat, down to just two big blinds at one point, nearly quadrupled back up past 1,000,000. Abreu, meanwhile, had a nearly 3-to-1 chip lead as the remaining eight players went off on a 45-minute dinner break. When they returned, Bechahed raised to 300,000 in middle position and Abreu three-bet to 800,000 in the hijack. Bechahed then shoved for 4,325,000, but Abreu had the goods with two kings and snap-called. Bechahed could only wander away from the table after finding his two nines crushed, and the NAPT champion was eliminated in eighth as Abreu moved up past 21,000,000.
Final Table payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €1,148,600 | ||
| 2 | €717,350 | ||
| 3 | €512,400 | ||
| 4 | €394,150 | ||
| 5 | €303,150 | ||
| 6 | €233,200 | ||
| 7 | €179,350 | ||
| 8 | Sami Bechahed | France | €137,950 |
The action at the final table picks up tomorrow at 12:30 pm local time with 14 hands remaining in Level 31 with blinds of 100,000/150,000 and a 150,000 big blind ante. The players have all locked up €179,350 for making it this far, but the seven-figure payday and Golden Shard trophy await one of them.
PokerNews will be following all the action the entire way down to the crowning of a champion, so come back tomorrow for the conclusion of the EPT Paris Main Event.
